I’m not a big fan of iPhone cases. I prefer to install the Zagg InvisibleShield, which is like a millimeter thin skin with a somewhat grippy surface, and be done with it. It adds almost no thickness to the phone, and is pretty much invisible.
However, my InvisibleShield has started to peel in a couple places, and that, combined with the fact that we have 5 iPhones on our crew bus, and all but mine are in cases of varying coolness, somehow got me researching iPhone cases again.
The only one I liked was the Solo from iSkin, which is pretty much only available online. There’s the regular Solo, and the Solo FX. I will let their graphic explain:
They are basically the same case, except the solo is a solid primary color, and the FX comes in more funky colors, with a circular pattern. Â I went with the orange one.
The other difference you can’t see is in the screen protector it comes with. Â The regular solo is a plain clear protector. Â The FX comes with a mirrored screen protector. Â This inherently sounds like a bad idea to me, and when I received the case this was proven. Â The mirrored finish looks cool, and would be pretty handy as a mirror, but it creates a pinkish cast to the screen, and similar to a glossy screen on a computer, picks up reflections which make it harder to read the screen. Â Most of all, though, I don’t know why anyone would want a protector that affects the tint of the screen. Â I’ve never felt it necessary to use a screen protector on the iPhone due to its glass surface which is very resistant to everyday scratches, so trying the protector on was more of a curiosity.
As someone not a fan of cases in general, I really like this one. Â The material is somewhere halfway between a hard plastic case and the more rubbery ones. Â It’s kind of a jelly-like plastic, which is very flexible, but doesn’t have the extreme grippy powers that make other cases hard to get in and out of a pocket. Â It has enough tack to it that it easily keeps the phone still on a tabletop or in your hand.
All the buttons are covered by the case except the silencer switch, which has a cutout. Â There is also a cutout for the camera and headphone port. Â I’m not sure how it would do with more chunky headphone connectors than the one the iPhone comes with, but if you really had to I don’t think it would be hard to cut the hole out bigger. Â There is also a long cutout at the bottom for the dock connector and mic and speaker openings. Â The case does not fit in the standard Apple dock (like pretty much any case I’ve ever heard of, except for the InvisibleShield and similar products), which is a bit of a compromise for me, since I like having the dock at my bedside. Â I also found that my old-style iPod cable (with a larger connector and the two tabs you have to push in to disconnect the cable) is a teeny bit wider and took a little forcing to get through the gap in the case, so I recommend using a newer cable like the one that comes with the phone.
One other minor complaint is that the power button is a little tough to press through the case. Â Personally I find that button harder to press than it should be under any circumstances, so I don’t think it’s really the fault of the case. Â It just requires a firmer press than usual, and gives little feedback that you’ve actually depressed the button, until you see the screen react.
Overall I think the case looks cool. Â It’s semi-transparent, so you can still see the Apple logo on the back, if that matters to you. Â I’m sure it looks even better on a white iPhone where the color will really come out, but it adds some color and personalization to the black phone as well. Â It also does a cool thing when it’s under a strong light, it almost seems to glow, and the color becomes brighter.
Here are some pics of mine. I purposely left the flash off because it was making the color seem a little brighter than it is under normal light.
UPDATE: Because the iPhone 3GS has the same dimensions as the 3G, it works just as well.
Update – Jan 2010
Last time I was in the Apple Store (Mall of America), they had some of these in stock. Nice to see they’re being carried in stores now.